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At the bar

Warning: If Iris comes up to you and asks to be taken to a salad bar, don’t be fooled. It’s a trick.

Last Monday there was an unassuming item on the dinner calendar: shelling bean salad. I had a bunch of stuff from the farmers market that needed to be eaten, including salad greens and shelling beans. So Iris shelled the beans, I made a caramelized shallot vinaigrette with sherry vinegar, and we had a salad bar. I had the water boiling for the beans and needed to get them in quick if they were going to be ready for dinner, so I was urging Iris to shell faster. I felt like a sweatshop proprietor. If they had been fava beans I would have felt really guilty.

Here’s what Laurie and I had in our salads:

mix of tender greens

shelling beans

bacon

croutons

shallot vinaigrette

Here’s what Iris had in her salad:

croutons

bacon

Now Iris keeps asking me when we can have salad bar again, because she loves croutons. She made me promise not to put pepper on them next time, however.

How I make croutons: take a loaf of rustic bread (I use Grand Central Como), cut off the crust, and cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. Toss the cubes with olive oil, salt, and (if family members allow) pepper. Bake in a 400-degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until browned. Nibble on the discarded crusts while the croutons bake.

Croutons and bacon are my favorite parts of a salad as well, so I sympathize with Iris. My parents still give me the croutons from their salads when we go out! (…and I wonder why they won’t treat me like a grownup. Ah, well.)